A John Burroughs Award–winning nature writer and an Emmy-nominated television presenter, Richard Conniff here recounts misadventures examining the lives of two-, four-, six-, and eight-legged creatures from around the globe, providing wild and hairy accounts of his many ill-advised forays. He pulls a 90-pound snapping turtle out of a Louisiana bayou, tracks leopards with Bushmen in the Namibian desert, and flings chicken carcasses into piranha-infested waters to clock how quickly they disappear before diving in himself.

"Hilariously informative.... This book will remind you why you always wanted to be a naturalist."—Outside Magazine